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No Style Points Tonight

Thursday, April 9, 2009
By Mike Steffanos

Game 2: Mets 9 - Reds 7

I had an ugly feeling of déjà vu watching the last few innings of this one. I can't say all that surprised, though, particularly by Frankie Rodriguez in the ninth. I've seen him pitch quite a few times, and he's always been the sort to create his own mess at times. Sooner or later that comes back to bite you, but I've always respected the way he battles out there even when it's not going well.

I know a lot is going to be made about Pelfrey's terrible first inning and the stumbles by the bullpen. I can't say I feel great about it all, but I'm not going to go crazy on what happens early in the season, whether good or bad.

For what it's worth, I was impressed that Pelfrey came back with 4 more relatively solid pitches, and that K-Rod came away with a save (even if that last out took a long time to settle in Beltran's glove.

Delgado had another big game, and the offense in general looked better.

If you feel bad about the way our bullpen pitched, be glad you're not a Braves fan. They battered Joe Blanton today and took a 10-3 lead into the seventh with a chance to sweep the Phillies on the road.

Four bases loaded walks by Atlanta relievers contributed to a 8 run inning for the home team, and Philly wound up with a 12-11 win.

Everyone has issues at this time of year, and you just hope you can pull out some wins while you're sorting it out. I'll take the "W".

I'm sick as a dog tonight, so I'll leave it to you guys if you have any comments on the game. I'll try to be back tomorrow with something intelligent, but I'm not promising anything (at least as far as intelligence).

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Comments (3)

I agree, Mike, about KRod. He actually didn't have it as hard as we think he did- apparently Delgado didn't touch first base for what should have been the second out. With a runner on third, two outs, and a two run lead, the game probably should have ended there. I need to see the replays of that to see if Delgado really didn't get the bag, or if the umpire was just being a homer for the Reds.

The problem with the Mets bullpen wasn't really the bullpen in and of itself; Jerry Manuel put in Feliciano in a non specialist situation, and he got burned for it. Manuel also screwed things up by having Stokes warm up early in the game, and made him useless for later on, when he'd probably have been better off in the game. I'd have stuck with Pelfrey no matter what for at least 2 to 3 innings, even if he was shelled out there.
The moment that Feliciano started sucking wind out there, I knew that the Mets bullpen wasn't going to have a fun night. And the look on Manuel's face when he came to pull Pedro out says it all: Feliciano's living on borrowed time if he keeps this crap up. Feliciano had no business being in there, and Manuel needs to have a tighter leash on him.

It is early in the season, so I won't bash the bullpen overall. I'll sing the praises of the offense, though. This is the second straight game where the opposing starting pitcher hasn't made it out of the 5th inning. That's great work by the Mets hitters, and they followed through on getting RISP to score this time.
Pelfrey also settled down after a shaky first inning; it was obvious that he was jumpy and overthrowing in the first, and was just missing the strike zone on alot of pitches. It didn't help that his defense early in the game was suspect. That's going to be something the Mets will have to work on (although granted, it WAS dreary and cold out there).

Hopefully Thursday's game will feature better pitching, and more of the same hitting.

Kudos to Pelf for rebounding after the first, the offense took a step forward. I too thought Feliciano was left in there too long, Green allows the hit when he comes in. After that I went to bed feeling that Putz & K-Rod would do their thing and maintain a 3 run led. Woke up this morning to find the Reds had scored another run making it close. Just hope they iron out the kinks. 2-0 with a chance at a sweep. Lets Go 2009 Mets!

Tallying along here; I was pleased with the way Putz pitched, even if one of those pitches became a triple. Y'all saw the triple; well hit, but rolling most of the way to the fence, the sort of hit that's a single if it happens to be hit anywhere near a fielder. I can live with it, and the way he dealt with the rest of his assignment last night.

There is no one way to a victory, at least not for a team planning on having a lot of them. Last night it was about beating up one of the best pitchers of 2008 and hanging on through a very Metsian ninth inning.

Hey, did you hear, Billy Wagner took a look at this team and decided that he wants to be a part of it. Oh, man, if he could actually come back with his stuff intact.....short games.